Shellshocked

“Freddy” Receives Hand-Painted 3D Printed Tortoise Shell

“Animal Avengers” give fire-damaged tortoise a second chance at life with a hand-painted 3D printed tortoise shell.

Freddy the tortoise wasn’t named at random. She was named after Nightmare on Elm Street‘s terrifying fire-damaged character, Freddy Krueger.

Nearly 85% of Freddy’s original shell had been damaged in a forest fire in Brazil, when she was found near death back in 2015.

The self-titled “Animal Avengers” volunteer team was called in to help nurse her back to health. And their solution to the problem of the missing shell? Just 3D print her a new one.

3D Printed Tortoise Shell Gets Hand Painted

Actually, it wasn’t as simple as all that. The group from Sao Paolo includes four vets, a dental surgeon, and a 3D model designer.

It wasn’t the team’s first experience with injured animals in need of 3D printed prosthesis, and designer Cicero Moraes was tasked with designing a new shell for Freddy. He used photos of healthy turtles to generate the design for the shell, and then applied Freddy’s measurements to make sure it fit.

The 3D printed prosthesis is made of four interlocking pieces made from PLA thermoplastic. The pieces were then attached to Freddy, leaving her to look fashionable and, of course, healthy. Unfortunately, those pieces were a pasty white, causing Freddy to stand out like a sore tortoise.

Brazilian artist Yuri Caldera was called in to paint Freddy’s shell, in order to help her blend in. Rather than pimping the shell, Caldera gave the 3D printed shell a design more like those found in nature, using her natural colors.

After successfully designing and printing the prosthesis with extremely low-cost material, it looks like Freddy is as close to “back to normal” as possible. The researchers will still have to keep an eye on her in the long term, but for now, she’s safe in her own shell.